@withereth feat. asterid / a mostly plotted starter
katniss is as insistent as ever to help get little primrose to bed. she seems to have mostly come back around from the earlier shock from this morning. asterid never yelled. never raised her voice. it had shocked him too.
but, they’ve managed to get prim sleeping, one of her tiny toddler fists curled around a few of her sister’s fingers in a grip she couldn't release, even if she'd wanted to. burdie’s knelt beside the bed, tucking her in and singing a sweet lullaby as he smooths hair from her forehead. asterid sits on the bed right beside him, despite the tension between them, with whatever is to come once they close the lone door to their shared bedroom, they stay nearby each other. a united front for their girls.
he watches gray eyes begin fluttering shut and kisses the top of her head tenderly, with a quick word of sweet dreams and steps aside so her mother can do the same, before quietly exiting to the front porch to wait.
burdock considers simply collapsing into the hammock strung up on their little porch. it was still usable, of course, but he’d been meaning to fix it, as some of the rope had begun breaking down over the years. it was constantly shelved for more important tasks, though. retinning the roof, fixing a board on the side of the house, or that damn broken step that made him twist his ankle when it caved in as he’d come home from work a few years back when prim was just a baby.
he’s staring at it, leaned up against the porch’s railing with his arms crossed over his chest when asterid comes out. there was a small pile of old rope sitting in the backyard that he'd set aside, waiting for this hammock. and katniss had gotten her hands on it instead to make necklaces of rope from the hanging tree.
he looks at her for a quick moment before his gaze falls again, back to the hammock with its aging rope and holes that his daughter’s little feet slipped through. maybe he should redo it entirely? use fabric? the rope had been inexpensive at the cost of a lot of time, but he’d had what felt like endless time back then.
burdock unfolds his arms, rests his hands upon the railing behind him, but still can’t manage to meet her gaze.
“Go on,” he urges, gentle as ever, because he’s got no idea what’s coming. more yelling? surely not. at least he hoped. they'd managed to be civil when he and katniss returned from the meadow. the little girl had even run to her mother's arms after burdie promised her she wasn't mad at her. that she could never be mad at her. maybe not his best promise given katniss' sass. but, somehow, he’d crossed a line without meaning to, without knowing it was there to cross. “Let me have it.”